Frederick wilfrid scott stokes



' F. w. s. Smm.

PROJECTILE.

APPLICATION FILED IMYI3. |916.

Patented Alig. 26, 1919.

. passage therethrough of walls of the cartridge case to insure a 4withone or both ends integral with the body 'UNTTED sTATEs PATENT ortica.

FREDERICK`WIL1E'BID SCOTT vSTOKES, 0F LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR 'IOWILLIAM S. PEIRCE, TRUSTEE, ACTING CHIEF 0F ORDINANCE, UNITED STATESARMY.

PROJECTILE.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

Application mea May 13, 1916. sen'al No. 97,389.

1,313,926, Specification of Letters Patent.

in consequence of the partial failureof the pro-pelle'nt charge.

The fusewhetherof the time or percussiontype may be disposed in a headofA suitable shape constructed of aluminium or other material andmounted on or formed in o-ne with the plate or end which constitutes theforepart of the projectile.

The `propellent charge disposed as described in a separate vcartridgeis` not inserted in the chamber on the projectile base until theprojectile is to be used. The gun with which the improved projectile ismainly intended to be employed is pro' vided with a smooth bore and ofsuch diameter with relation 'to that of the projectile that the latter`is an easy fit in the bore and will readily slide -down into the breechof the gun when it is to be discharged, the gun barrel being mounted forthe purpose w-'th its axis at aconsiderable angular elevation. Thepropellent charge carried on the base or rear end of the projectile istired by impiact with a striker mounted in the'breech of the gun. It.may, 80 however, be fired by inserting the `projecv tile in the breechchamber and operating a movable striker.

In the accompanying To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK Winrar SCOTT S'roincs, a subject of theKing of England, residing at London, in England,' have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Projectiles, of which the following is aspecification.

rIlhis invention relates has for its object to produce a projectile ofsimple construction which can be cheaply made and is more especiallyintended for use in guns of the howitzer type such as trench montars andthe like.

According to this invention the projectile has a hollow body on the rearend of which is formed lor mounted a tubular open ended extension ofless diameter than the body which constitu-tes a chamberv adapted tocontain an explosive propellentfcartridge. The wall of the tubularcartridge chamber is perforated with holes of such dimensions andsufficient number to permit o-f the the `products of combustion When thecharge is fired after providing for a suliicient pressure inside the toproj eotiles and good and regular combustion of the propellent charge.The projectile may be formed drawings .which but a preferred arrangementis to construct illu-strate by way of examlple projectiles a hollowcylindrical body and separat/eend constructed in accordance withthis-invenplates or members each of which is secured tion j in place atthe end of the cylindrical body Figure is a longitudinal sectionalelevaby forcing the plate on or into the open end ti-on of one of .theimprovedprojectiles proof the latter with a comparatively soft videdwith la time fuse;. 90

,fired either by Fig. 2 is a similar view of the fore end of an improvedprojectile provided with a percussion fuse;

Fig. 3. 's vQa longitudinal sectional elevation of a modilied form ofthe improved projectile provided with a time fuse;

Fig. L is van elevation of the rear end-of the projectile shown in Fig.3.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1 the projectile comprises a hollow cylindrical body Awith open ends adapted to be closed by end pieces. T he rear end piece Bhas a boss B provided with a screw-threaded hole into which is screwed atubular member C with open end. The wall of this tubular exten-- sion Cis perforated as at C and the internal diameter of the tubular chamberis such as to enable a cartridge, as indicated 110 metal ferrlileinterposed.

The cartridge which is to be placed in the tubular chamber is.conveniently similar to the cartridges ordinarily employed withsporting-shot guns having a metallic head which carries a percussioncap. The cartridge is charged, however, with an eX- plosive suitable tothe purpose set forth, for example such as that known as ballistite.

rPhe body of the projectile is illed with some high explosive materialadapted to be a time or by a percussion The construction and arrangementof this fuse may vary but preferably it is controlled by a safetyldevice of such a nature that the arming of the fuse will not takepl'ace and the fuse-be changed from a state of safety if the yprojectileis thrown only a short distance from the muzzle of the gun` fuse;

in dotted lines at D, to be inserted therein. This cartridge is similar-to those ordinarily employe'd withsporting shot guns, being composed ofa metallic head with flange and percussion cap, which head lies in theopen end of the tuibular chamber C. The body of the cartridge D iscomposed of brass, cardboardcr other similiar material not easily tornwhen the cartridge is exploded. The dimensions and number of the holes Cin the wall of the cartridge chamber C .are such as to permit fthe gasesof explosion to pass therethrough with fair freedom w'hile at the sametime suflicient support is given'to the wall of the cartridge itselfbefore perforation to insure an etlic-ient an-d regular explosion of thecharge. Such charge may conveniently be composed of ballis-tite or otherlike composition. v

0n the face of the end piece B opposite to that which carries thecartridge chamber C is formed a projecting flange B2 of such dimensionsas will easily enter the end of the hollow projectile body A. A ferruleE of suitable comparatively soft metal, such as lead, is placed over theface of the end piece l and fiange B2 and the end piece is then pressedinto the end ofthe body A where it is held by friction. y

The fore end of the projectile body A is closed in a similar manner tothe rear end by an end piece F provided with a flange F between whichand the end of the body A is interposed a soft metal thimble E so thatthis fore end piece when pressed into place is `frictionally held there.

The fore-end piece 'F carries a suitably shaped head in which isdisposed either a time fuse or a percussion fuse for the purpose offiring the charge of high explosive with which the hollow body A isfilled. rlhe time fuse illustrated in Fig. l is constructed on knownlines as Vto its principal features but the device for arming the fuseis novel and will 'be presented in another application. In the head G isformed a central longitudinal passage G in which is a lhamm'er H whichwhen released can slide under the action of a spring H and strike apercussion pellet J. The latter is carried by a screw threaded nipple Kwhich serves to connect the head G to the end piece, F. In this nippleis a passage K containing a short piece of Bickford fuse Q which isignited by the percussion cap J, which in tu ru ignites the detonator Qwhich explodes the contents of the shell body. The passage Kcommunicates with the, interior of the hollow projectile body A throughthe detonator tube F4. The. hammer Il is held inoperative bya two-armedlever L L- pivotally mounted at L2 on the 'head and having its short endL shaped to engage the end H2 of the hammer. The long arm L of Jrhelever has its end bent inward and formed so as to be engaged by the endof a sliding pin M mounted in a hole formed in the head e is to sayoutward an-d keep its end in engagement with the end of the lever L. Asafety pin N which lies in a hole bored through the head H engages anannular recess M2 formed in the sliding pin M and prevents movement ofthe latter until the safety pin N is withdrawn., I

In operation when the projectile is .to be fired the safety pin N iswithdrawn and a cartridge is inserted in the chamber C. The projectileis now vinserted in the gun and the cartridge fired, preferably byallowing the projectile to slide down the smooth bore of the gun whichis arranged at a considerable inclination to the horizontal so that .thecap of thecartridge is detonated by a striker mounted in the breech ofthe gun. If the shock of discharge is of full force it is suflicient tocause the pin M by reason of its inertia to move rearward against theaction of the spring M when the end of the lever L is released. Onleaving the gun this lever immediately turns about its pivot L2 owing tothe action of the spring H and the hammer H is then released and fby theaction of the samev spring caused to strike the percussion pellet J withthe result that the Bickford fuse composition is ignited and' the chargewithin the projectile is' then in due course exploded by the detonation.If from any cause, such for example as the complete or partial failureof the charge in the cartridge D the shock of discharge is eitherinsufficient to throw the projectile a safe distance from t-he muzzle ofthe gun or even not eject it at all, then such shock will not sufce tocause the inertia of the pin M to overcome the action of the spring M,to the extent necessary to effect the release of the lever L. When thisoccurs the projectile is harmless and will not explode as it falls.

The projectile is intended to be fired from a smooth bore gun withinwhich it is an easy fit.

The percussion fuse illustrated in Fig. Q is so constructed that it will'be armed in the same `manner by the rearward movement of spring pins Mas the time fuse. In the construction of-this percussion fuse the endpiece F `is made of sufficient dimensions as to permit of its having.formed in it a hollow F2 which is closed by a partiallyv hollowed capFaheld .in place by set screws or otherwise as found convenient. Thehollow F2 is preferably spherical or approximately so and adapted toreceive an approximately spherical bodyv O which constitutes the hammerof the fuse.

The body O is hollowed out as at and from this 'central cavity lead anumber of radial passages C)2 at the outer end of each of which ismounted a percussion cap O3. In .a larger radial passage llies one endof a strip of instantaneous fuse material Q, the other end of which iscarried down into a v detonator Q disposed in the inner end of a 4end anannular tube F* mounted centrally in the end piece F. The end of thetube F4 with the detona tor Q lies within the hollow shell body A and incontiguity with the explosive charge therein. Running right through thespherical hammer body O on a diameter thereof which is preferably atright angles to the direction vin which the fuse strip Q is led, is apassage in which is disposed a coiled spring R each of whose ends bearsagainst the inner end of a safety bolt S. Each of these bolts has formedin i it toward its outer recess S adapted to be engaged by the end ofone of the spring pins M in the manner shown in Fig. 2. These 'outerends of the safety bolts Slie in open ended passages formed in the endpiece F so that when the spring pins M set back ondischarge of theprojectile and are disengaged from the safety pins S, the latter arefree to move outwardly under the influence of the spring R and be thrownout or moved sufliciently to release the hammer body O. The latter isthen left free within the cavity F2. When now the projectile makesimpact with an object, the hammer bodv O is thrown against the wall ofthe cavity F2 and one or more of the caps O3 is detonated. Thisdetonation passing through the radial passage O2 into the central'cavityO ignites the fuse Q and so res the detonator Q and explodes the chargewithin the shell.

It will be seen that here also if the shock of discharge from the gun isnot of full force the pins M will not set back sufficiently toreleasethe Safety bolts S and the hammer bodv will then continue to be heldrigidly j by these bolts and explosion of the shell will not occur onimpact.

It is to be noted that the time and percussion fuses more particularlydescribed above. are only set forth as examples of constructions inconjunction with which the spring pms M may be employed. This spring pindevicel may be utilized in other ways to effect the armingof fuses ofother type.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a modified constructiony of projectile inaccordance with this invention and provided with a simple type of timefuse. In this case the shell body A is cast hollow with its base Aintegral as also the head A2. `In the latte-r is formed a hole throughwhich the explosive charge can be illed into the body of the shell, thishole being subsequently closed by a screw lug A3. In the base A isformed an annu ar recessv A4 from which a passage and in andscrew-threaded as at G2, this .T and screwed into 'ready described. Theflash A:l leads into the interior of the shell. In the recess A4 isplaced a length of Bickis held in place by the tubular cartridge chamberC, whose forward end is reduced part being passed through a. centralopening in the disk l the base plate A. A hole T is formed in the timedisk T at such a radial distance from the centerof the disk that thishole will lie over the recess A4. The periphery of the disk T isgraduated so that it can be rotated and set in a known relation to amark on the base A. vConveniently the hole T is covei'ed by somematerial which can be torn away or perfo'- rated.

When the projectile is to be discharged the covering over the hole Tv isdestroyed and the Bickford fuse is pierced by inserting a suitablepointed instrument through the hole T. The disk T is set by thegraduations in acordance with the time that it is intended to elapsebetwen the discharge of the projectile and its explosion. The projectileis now placed in the gun and fired in some convenient manner such asthat alfrom the explosion of the vcartridge in the chamber C passes outof this chamber through the holes C and ignites the fuse in the recessA4 through the puncture opposite the hole T. The fus'e now burns aroundthe annulus and in due course firesthe detonator or directly bringsabout the explosion of the shell.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. A projectile having a cylindrical body and a base having areceptacle ling charge, said receptacle being rigid with the base, ofless diameter than the projectile, and extending rearwardly therefromand having its outer end open to receive a propelling charge and itslateral wall perforated to permit of the escape of the propelling gasesinto the space surrounding the receptacle in rear of the projectile.

2. A projectile haviiiga cylindrical body soff for a propeland a basehavingA a receptacle for a propelceptacle,Y the lateral Wall of saidcartridge bein adapted to yield on firing to permit 'the "gf-ases toexpand through said lateral openings.

3. A projectile having a cylindrical body and a base having a rearwardlyprojecting' receptacle for a cartridge, the said receptacle being rigidwith the base and of substantially less diameter than the projectile andhaving its outer end open to receive a cartridge, and its lateral Wallperforated to permit of the passage of the gases from the FREDERICKWILFRID SCOTT STORES.

Witnesses:

EUSTACE HENRY BURKE, HARRY PETER VENN.

